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OKLAHOMA LIBRARY FOR THE BLIND AND PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED
BRIGHT FUTURE
A publication of the Oklahoma Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Visual Services Division, Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services
Vol. 26, No. 4 Winter, 2011
300 N.E. 18th St. E-mail: olbph@okdrs.gov
Oklahoma City, OK 73105 Website: www.library.state.ok.us
(405) 521-3514
Toll Free 1-800-523-0288 Bright Future is available in
Fax: (405) 521-4582 braille, cassette and on our
TTY/TDD: (405) 521-4672 website.
Meet NFB’s Newsline
I’d like to introduce all of you to a great service offered by the National Federation of the Blind, Newsline. Newsline makes it possible for persons who are unable to use standard print material to be able to gain access to the information found in newspapers and magazines while the news is still fresh. In addition to Oklahoma’s best known newspapers, The Daily Oklahoman, and Tulsa World, also available are national newspapers such as USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, and the Christian Science Monitor. NFB’s Newsline also offers over 30 magazines including AARP The Magazine, Better Homes and Gardens, Ladies Home Journal, Parade, Rolling Stone, Smithsonian, Vanity Fair, and Time, just to name a few. Another great thing about Newsline is that it is accessible in several different ways; it can be accessed by telephone using a toll free number, downloaded to your computer, sent to you via email, even downloaded for play on your library-provided digital talking book player or an mp3 player. If you are already one of our many valued patrons, you qualify for this free service and can sign up simply by calling us and asking for a librarian. You can also sign up online at http://www.nfbnewslineonline.org/signup.htm. Currently there are 596 Newsline users in Oklahoma and we invite you to join that growing number of people who are now able to access these great sources of news from the comfort of their homes or on the go with their electronic devices. For more information feel free to call us here at the Oklahoma Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped at 2
(405) 521-3514 or at 1-800-523-0288, or you can also contact the National Federation of the Blind directly at 1-866-504-7300 or at http://www.nfbnewslineonline.org/. You can also stay in touch with Newsline via Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/#!/NFBNEWSLINE1.
I wish all of you a great Christmas season and a very happy New Year.
--Paul C. Adams, Library Director.
Hot for Books
Pictured on left, Cynthia Stokes and Mable Stripling (OLBPH). Pictured on right, Jim Kettler (OLBPH) and Tyler Smith, OSLS Board member.
On Tuesday, October 18, the Oklahoma Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped hosted the Hot for Books Chili Cook-off. Sponsored by Oklahomans for Special Library Services (OSLS), the contest brought entries from 10 cooks, who competed for a Hot for Books first prize trophy, the People’s Choice first place plaque, and bragging rights.
Judges for the First Place Trophy were Raymond Washburn, Vicky Golightly, public information officer and braille coordinator for OLPBH, and Pete White, Oklahoma City Councilman for Ward 4. After sampling all the entries, our panel of chili connoisseurs determined OLPBH’s own Jim Kettler to be the champion. Jim, announcing that this was the first time he had ever won a trophy, promptly posted a photo of his prize on his Facebook page.
In addition to the judged competition, chili cooks also vied for the coveted People’s Choice Award. Although it required sampling many different concoctions, patrons and friends of OLBPH tasted, considered, and voted for their favorite. After Tyler Smith, OSLS Board 3
member, tabulated all the results, Noel Tyler, administrator at the Disability Determination Division of the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services, captured the People’s Choice plaque.
Hot for Books was a benefit for the OLBPH Summer Reading Program, and $230 was raised from contributions by those brave souls who sampled the chili. Paul Adams, library director, and members of the library staff, including Sheldon Moglia, Sammie Willis, Cynthia Stokes, Mable Stripling and Pepper Watson, helped with setting up for the event and cleaning up. OSLS compliments the staff of OLBPH for their always cheerful assistance.
--Jim Henry, OSLS Board Member and Library Volunteer
Book Corner
Here are a few new titles for you to consider. Hopefully, there is something here you will find to be of interest.
Still Wild: Short Fiction of the American West, 1950 to the Present (DB 56187) by Larry McMurtry. The author of Lonesome Dove (DB 22959) has compiled 20 tales about the American West by writers of the late 20th century, including Wallace Stegner, Jack Kerouac, Louise Erdrich, Annie Proulx and William H. Gass. These pieces demonstrate how western stories have evolved and matured since the 1950s.
When Worlds Collide (DB 68938) by Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer. This influential novel was written in the early 1930s and is a classic of the science fiction genre. Two planets hurtle through space on a collision course with Earth. Scientist Cole Hendron secretly recruits fellow scientists to construct a powerful, Noah's ark-inspired spacecraft to evacuate a select few people before the inevitable cosmic disaster. This recording includes the 1934 sequel, written by the same authors.
The Strain (DB 69500) by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan. This vampire horror begins with a Boeing 777 sitting with all systems dead on the tarmac at New York’s JFK Airport. A CDC investigator is charged with stopping the spread of a horrific virus. The Strain is co-written by Guillermo del Toro, a film director and screenwriter best known for the movie Pan’s Labyrinth. 4
Phoenix Noir (DB 71050) by Patrick Millikin. Sixteen authors, including Lee Child, Diana Gabaldon and Megan Abbott, contribute hard-boiled crime stories set in and around the desert city of Phoenix, from posh Scottsdale to the hooker strip on Van Buren Street. Also contains a fictionalization of the murder of actor Bob Crane.
Libby Prison Breakout: The Daring Escape from the Notorious Civil War Prison (DB 71711) by Joseph Wheelan. This book recounts the February 1864 escape of 109 Union officers from Libby Prison, a Confederate jail in Richmond, Virginia. It describes the conditions in the facility, the atmosphere in the city, the personalities involved, and the prisoner-exchange policies of the Civil War.
A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions That Are Transforming the Faith (DB 71901) by Brian McLaren. McLaren, a Christian pastor who supports biblical community values, answers theological and practical questions raised by Christians in the 21st century. He discusses the Bible, Jesus, violence, human sexuality, other religions, and the role of the church in faith.
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration (DB 71929) by Isabel Wilkerson. In this title, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist chronicles the migration of African-Americans from the South during 1915-1970. The book recounts experiences of sharecropper's wife Ida Mae Gladney in 1937, citrus picker George Starling in 1945, and physician Pershing Foster in 1953. It asserts that institutionalized racism spurred millions to uproot themselves for greener pastures.
At Home: A Short History of Private Life (DB 72121) by Bill Bryson. The Anglo-American writer and humorist, Bill Bryson, uses his house, a 19th-century English church rectory, to frame a social history of domestication. He ponders subjects such as the stairs, wallpaper, building materials, ice, and the living conditions of servants. Each chapter explores a different room.
--Andrew Shockley, Librarian
5
Tips for Successful Book Circulation
 Books are checked out for 60 days. If you want one longer than that, please call and renew it--otherwise, return it so the people waiting for it can also enjoy it.
 Keep the mailing card with the book! They are not interchangeable with other books--the barcode on each card is specific to that book alone, and it is how we check the book back in. If you send a book back with a different card on it, both those books become effectively lost.
 Before you mail a book back, double check that you have put the cartridge in the box, and that the number on the cartridge matches the number on the box. If you do slip up and send back an empty box, call us and we will return it to you so you can return the book.
 If you are getting books that don’t interest you or that you don’t care for, call and talk to a reader adviser. We’ll do our best to adjust your profile and get you some books you enjoy.
 Finally, if you decide you no longer want the service, please send the player and books back to us. We will even send you an empty box to return them in if you need it. Our materials are federal property, and they don’t do anyone any good sitting in the back of a closet. Let someone else use them if you don’t want to. Thanks!
--Julia Alderson, Administrative Librarian
Important Digital Player Information
There is a new software update for your digital player. The update is being placed on new digital books going out as early as December 2011. If you get a book that has this update, it will announce “Updating your player’s software; please do not power off your player or remove the cartridge from the player.” There will be a series of beeps while the machine is updating. When the process is complete, the machine announces, “Software upgrade completed; stand by while your player is restarted.” This is a very quick process so please do not remove the book cartridge while it is updating the player’s software.
We also want to remind you that it is important to keep your digital player plugged in unless you are moving around with it. When the 6
digital player is plugged in, it stops using the battery and therefore prolongs the charge and the life of the battery.
--Sammie Willis, Librarian
The Easy Choice
A person received a professor who came to inquire about Zen. Serving tea, he poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept on pouring. The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. "It is overfull. No more will go in!" "Like this cup," said the host, "you are full of your own opinions and speculations, so how can I show you Zen unless you empty your cup"? (Reps & Senzaki, 1994)
Unfortunately, there have been times that my cup was too full of opinions and it is these times I call growth opportunities. One day my opinions had developed into beliefs, a set of principles, studied propositions and rationed ideas. In my personal development I had graduated from the emotional base of opinion to the trusted maturity of a belief system. The foundation of a belief is that one can trust, trust that there is a foundation upon which one can feel confident in decision-making. For example, I trust in the ability of blind people to succeed in any task, to compete and to achieve social justice; however, succeeding at income, influence and wealth requires personal responsibility.
A personal belief of mine is that choosing the easy way leads to diminished learning, diminished skill development and undermines personal responsibility. Blindness provides an abundance of opportunities to choose an easy way: examinations are modified, at buffets food can just appear, wheelchairs and human arms will lead one anywhere, but taking the easy way teaches little of value.
While walking along the shore of the island of Kauai, a friend remarked that there was an easier way for me to walk. Easier in this case meant an edge that my cane could follow and lead me brainless to the end. The question is where would we be if we always choose the easy path? When I travel through airports I always refuse assistance from airport workers; the assistance I have found to be slow and demeaning and generally awful. The benefits I get from this refusal are abundant: I use my skills of blindness, my ability to travel grows, I 7
meet people and I do what I want when I want. When one gives up his control and takes the assistance instead of challenging oneself, then you remain segregated from people, you gain no skills, and you make fewer decisions, none of which build any positive self-development.
The belief of rejecting the easy path for positive self-growth has developed my six-point philosophy of education which says that:
1. Human beings learn when the environment is rich in experience and abundant with opportunity to discover learning through analytical thinking and reasoning, using experiential learning and problem solving skills,
2. Learners who use a cognitive paradigm for examining the world, allowing for self-monitoring and managing the world by using all sensory perceptions, acquire comprehensive learning,
3. Leading people to information and skills and to mentor them through the process of acquisition is my responsibility,
4. It is my responsibility to introduce divergent and convergent information to foster growth in a person,
5. Teaching “service” as an opportunity for learning, and
6. Education is power.
The challenge of Zen is to observe what has always been looked at and see it for the first time. For me taking the easy path does not give enough observation or experience nor the joy of seeing things for the first time, but choosing the path of personal responsibility keeps the tea cup empty!
--Dr. J. Michael Jones, Visual Services Administrator
Standard or Advanced Player: Which Should I use?
Have you wondered about the difference between the standard and advanced digital players and which one would be the best choice for you?
The advanced machine makes it easier and faster to move from one section or chapter of the book to another. It also allows you to “bookmark” chapters, sections or pages to quickly return to at a later time.
If you read poetry or cookbooks you can mark favorite poems and recipes. If you listen to The Bible (DB 68777, (The King James version of the Old and New Testaments read by Alexander Scourby in the early 8
1950s, is a patron favorite) the advanced player would allow you to move through the books more easily.
Both machines have the same excellent features and are identical except for the bookmark feature built into the advanced model. If you listen to books for pleasure and don’t download books, the standard player will definitely meet your needs. But if you download, use cookbooks, read poetry or The Bible regularly you may want to consider getting the advanced model.
You can exchange your player. Just notify Daniel Simpson that you are sending in your standard model and want the advanced. He can tell you if he has an available machine. When we receive your standard, we will mail the advanced one out to you.
--Sammie Willis, Librarian
Curl Up this Winter with a Good Book
On long winter evenings I like to snuggle under an afghan, drink hot cocoa and escape with a book that is heart-warming, humorous or takes me to another place and time. Sometimes I just want a feel-good read that will cheer me up. Librarians call this type of book GENTLE. Here are some gentle titles you might enjoy.
Emma (DB 23490) by Jane Austen. Clever, pretty and rich, Emma is content to be a companion to her father. But when she makes a successful match for her governess, Emma begins to make more love matches with surprising results.
The Dog Who Came to Stay: A Memoir (DB 64728) by Hal Borland. The nature writer’s affectionate account of his dog Pat, a skinny stray who came to the Borland’s farm in Connecticut one stormy Christmas night and stayed. Recalls his exploits in hunting and fishing, brushes with skunks and poachers, and skirmishes with bobcats and porcupines.
The Hound of the Baskervilles (DB 14165) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. When Sir Charles Baskerville arrives at his family estate from America to find a curse hanging over the family he calls in Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson to solve the mystery.
Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven (DB 62789) by Fannie Flagg. After elderly Elner Shimfissle falls off her ladder and dies, she meets 9
her late sister Ida in heaven. Ida is still fuming over her bad-hair day at her funeral … then a miracle happens. Bestseller.
The Snow Goose (DB 54514) by Paul Gallico. A young girl brings a reclusive painter an injured Canadian goose. Bonds of affection grow between the bird, Philip and Fritha, linking them in Philip’s heroic decision to rescue soldiers at Dunkirk during World War II.
The Teammates: A Portrait of a Friendship (DB 56289) by David Halberstam. Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, Dom DiMaggio and Johnny Pesky were all members of the famed 1940s Boston Red Sox. Their legendary careers led the Red Sox to a pennant championship and ensured the men a place in sports history. In this extremely moving book, Halberstam reveals how these four teammates became friends, and how that friendship thrived for more than 60 years. Bestseller.
All Creatures Great and Small (DB 53926) by James Herriot. Herriot’s warm and often hilarious stories of his first years as a country veterinarian. Bestseller.
Lake Wobegon Days (DB 22969) by Garrison Keillor. Stories about the inhabitants of a small, mythical Minnesota town “that time forgot and the decades cannot improve.” These tales of the town’s characters are outrageous, warm and often both funny and sad. Bestseller.
Charles Kuralt’s America (DB 41249) by Charles Kuralt. CBS reporter Kuralt spent a month each at his favorite places during their best seasons. This is his easy going account of the places he visited and the people he met from Alaska to Key West and Louisiana to Maine. Bestseller.
Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind (DB 49141) by Anne Ross. Reserved southern widow Miss Julia receives a shock when she learns of her dead husband’s double life. Her view of life and love deepens in this witty and charming comedy of manners. Bestseller.
Girl of the Limberlost (DB 38268) by Gene Stratton-Porter. This traditional romance tells how a girl who lives in a cabin in the swamp with a cold and distant mother achieves schooling, a new understanding with her mother and the love of a young man. 10
The Hobbit (DB 48978) by J.R.R. Tolkien. Bilbo Baggins, a little Hobbit wanting nothing to do with adventure, gets caught up in a quest with a dozen dwarves intent on reclaiming their ancestral homelands in the Lonely Mountains. A beloved classic that delights readers of all ages.
--Sammie Willis, Librarian
Back 40
As we are now out of the hot weather of the summer of 2011, I am thinking about cooler weather and smells. You may think that is an odd thing to think about, but just a minute; I think you can relate to this.
Some of my most vivid memories surround smells. Summer has its own smells of blooming flowers, barbecue grills, suntan lotion and even the chlorine smell of the swimming pool. But fall and winter smells, to me, are more captivating.
Coming home from school when I was young to the smells of a pot of beans simmering on the stove, my mother ironing, even the smell of the gas space heater in the living room … these smells bring back pictures of what it was like to grow up in the ‘50s and ‘60s. I’d sometimes wake up on a Sunday morning to the smell of Mom browning a beef roast to cook while we were away at church. Or after church it might be the smell that was made when she would singe the pin-feathers off a chicken before she cut it up her own unique way, for frying. There is still nobody else who cuts up a chicken the same as my mother. And, of course, there was the smell of the chicken frying.
The smells of hot rolls, a pumpkin pie or corn bread baking in the oven might be any evening before Dad got home from work. Or turkey and dressing or a ham might be for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
The smell of a Christmas tree and the other fresh-cut trimmings for the season always bring back memories of hiding presents from my parents and two sisters until the gifts could be wrapped, however primitively, and put under the tree.
Speaking of Christmas, the plays and pageants at school and church had their own smells. The tree, kids who smelled of wood smoke because that’s how they heated their house, the straw used in the manger scenes, the sack each kid received with an apple, an orange and a cup or so of hard candies. Paint applied to the scenery 11
and strings of popcorn hung ‘round both schoolhouse and church building. Each of these had a unique smell that I can remember today and match to specific memories of specific events, people and places.
What smells do you remember from your past? Are you older, middle-aged or younger? Each generation has its own set of smells. My Grandmother Pearson talked a lot of “coal oil lamps” and the smell they made. She and my mother both told me how they did the laundry around a big pot in the yard, using a scrub-board and lye soap. The wood fire under the pot, the lye soap and even the laundry itself had their smells. As they would tell me about this, or the process of butchering and rendering a hog or of cleaning chickens, they would describe the smells and get a far-away look in their eyes which I now know meant they were transported to another time and place.
My father told me about being in Italy during World War II and the sights and smells. He too would get that look in his eyes that told me he was once again there in the gunpowder smoke, the dust and dirt, the exhaust fumes of the jeeps, tanks and other transports used in the war. And these memories weren’t pleasant like the memories he had of growing up on the farm near Tuttle, Oklahoma, because those smells included the smell of death and suffering.
I suppose there might be a scientific reason for associating smells and memories so strongly together. But as for me, I prefer to think of it as a little magic, like fairy dust that casts something of a spell to take me back to another time and place in a world that no longer exists. I like to go there whenever I can.
--Jim Kettler, Materiels Specialist
Tax Deductible Donations
Every gift to Oklahomans for Special Library Services (OSLS) benefits thousands. Contributions enable OSLS to provide activities not funded by the annual Library budget. Make checks payable to OSLS and mail to Oklahomans for Special Library Services, P.O. Box 53593, Oklahoma City, OK 73152.
Donations are accepted in memory of a loved one, family member or to honor an individual. When a gift is made, it should include the name of the person being honored and the name and address of the family or family member to be notified of the gift. Please consider naming OSLS as a beneficiary of a life insurance policy or in other 12
estate planning bequests. With the assistance of an estate-planning attorney, significant tax benefits may be possible from this gift.
Older Blind Information Telephone Line
The Older Blind Telephone Information Line features recorded information by volunteers and staff that allows consumers who are blind to call and listen 24 hours, seven days a week, to daily newspaper articles from the Tulsa World and Daily Oklahoman, daily TV guide listings for local and cable networks, weekly grocery store ads for five major chains in Oklahoma, the Wal-Mart ad, the Walgreens ad, and various announcements concerning services for people who are blind. There is no application to access this free service and there is no limit on how long you can listen. Call either (918) 743-3332 in Tulsa or 1-800-829-3255 toll free throughout Oklahoma and begin listening.
Oklahoma Library for the Blind
and Physically Handicapped
300 N.E. 18th St.
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
Bright Future is the official publication of the Oklahoma Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Visual Services Division, Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services. It was printed by Central Printing in the Department of Central Services. It is published four times a year. Paul Adams is the Library Director; Vicky Golightly is the Editor; and Jim Kettler is the Assistant Editor. In providing information to readers of Bright Future, the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services does not endorse any product or service referred to by this newsletter. This publication is authorized by the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services in accordance with state and federal regulations, with copies deposited with the Oklahoma Department of Libraries Publications Clearinghouse. Cost of printing and distribution was $2,080 for 6,500 copies. DRS does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age or disability in employment or the provision of services. For additional copies, contact the Oklahoma Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, (405) 521-3514.
FREE MATTER
FOR THE
BLIND

OKLAHOMA LIBRARY FOR THE BLIND AND PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED
BRIGHT FUTURE
A publication of the Oklahoma Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Visual Services Division, Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services
Vol. 26, No. 4 Winter, 2011
300 N.E. 18th St. E-mail: olbph@okdrs.gov
Oklahoma City, OK 73105 Website: www.library.state.ok.us
(405) 521-3514
Toll Free 1-800-523-0288 Bright Future is available in
Fax: (405) 521-4582 braille, cassette and on our
TTY/TDD: (405) 521-4672 website.
Meet NFB’s Newsline
I’d like to introduce all of you to a great service offered by the National Federation of the Blind, Newsline. Newsline makes it possible for persons who are unable to use standard print material to be able to gain access to the information found in newspapers and magazines while the news is still fresh. In addition to Oklahoma’s best known newspapers, The Daily Oklahoman, and Tulsa World, also available are national newspapers such as USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, and the Christian Science Monitor. NFB’s Newsline also offers over 30 magazines including AARP The Magazine, Better Homes and Gardens, Ladies Home Journal, Parade, Rolling Stone, Smithsonian, Vanity Fair, and Time, just to name a few. Another great thing about Newsline is that it is accessible in several different ways; it can be accessed by telephone using a toll free number, downloaded to your computer, sent to you via email, even downloaded for play on your library-provided digital talking book player or an mp3 player. If you are already one of our many valued patrons, you qualify for this free service and can sign up simply by calling us and asking for a librarian. You can also sign up online at http://www.nfbnewslineonline.org/signup.htm. Currently there are 596 Newsline users in Oklahoma and we invite you to join that growing number of people who are now able to access these great sources of news from the comfort of their homes or on the go with their electronic devices. For more information feel free to call us here at the Oklahoma Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped at 2
(405) 521-3514 or at 1-800-523-0288, or you can also contact the National Federation of the Blind directly at 1-866-504-7300 or at http://www.nfbnewslineonline.org/. You can also stay in touch with Newsline via Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/#!/NFBNEWSLINE1.
I wish all of you a great Christmas season and a very happy New Year.
--Paul C. Adams, Library Director.
Hot for Books
Pictured on left, Cynthia Stokes and Mable Stripling (OLBPH). Pictured on right, Jim Kettler (OLBPH) and Tyler Smith, OSLS Board member.
On Tuesday, October 18, the Oklahoma Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped hosted the Hot for Books Chili Cook-off. Sponsored by Oklahomans for Special Library Services (OSLS), the contest brought entries from 10 cooks, who competed for a Hot for Books first prize trophy, the People’s Choice first place plaque, and bragging rights.
Judges for the First Place Trophy were Raymond Washburn, Vicky Golightly, public information officer and braille coordinator for OLPBH, and Pete White, Oklahoma City Councilman for Ward 4. After sampling all the entries, our panel of chili connoisseurs determined OLPBH’s own Jim Kettler to be the champion. Jim, announcing that this was the first time he had ever won a trophy, promptly posted a photo of his prize on his Facebook page.
In addition to the judged competition, chili cooks also vied for the coveted People’s Choice Award. Although it required sampling many different concoctions, patrons and friends of OLBPH tasted, considered, and voted for their favorite. After Tyler Smith, OSLS Board 3
member, tabulated all the results, Noel Tyler, administrator at the Disability Determination Division of the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services, captured the People’s Choice plaque.
Hot for Books was a benefit for the OLBPH Summer Reading Program, and $230 was raised from contributions by those brave souls who sampled the chili. Paul Adams, library director, and members of the library staff, including Sheldon Moglia, Sammie Willis, Cynthia Stokes, Mable Stripling and Pepper Watson, helped with setting up for the event and cleaning up. OSLS compliments the staff of OLBPH for their always cheerful assistance.
--Jim Henry, OSLS Board Member and Library Volunteer
Book Corner
Here are a few new titles for you to consider. Hopefully, there is something here you will find to be of interest.
Still Wild: Short Fiction of the American West, 1950 to the Present (DB 56187) by Larry McMurtry. The author of Lonesome Dove (DB 22959) has compiled 20 tales about the American West by writers of the late 20th century, including Wallace Stegner, Jack Kerouac, Louise Erdrich, Annie Proulx and William H. Gass. These pieces demonstrate how western stories have evolved and matured since the 1950s.
When Worlds Collide (DB 68938) by Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer. This influential novel was written in the early 1930s and is a classic of the science fiction genre. Two planets hurtle through space on a collision course with Earth. Scientist Cole Hendron secretly recruits fellow scientists to construct a powerful, Noah's ark-inspired spacecraft to evacuate a select few people before the inevitable cosmic disaster. This recording includes the 1934 sequel, written by the same authors.
The Strain (DB 69500) by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan. This vampire horror begins with a Boeing 777 sitting with all systems dead on the tarmac at New York’s JFK Airport. A CDC investigator is charged with stopping the spread of a horrific virus. The Strain is co-written by Guillermo del Toro, a film director and screenwriter best known for the movie Pan’s Labyrinth. 4
Phoenix Noir (DB 71050) by Patrick Millikin. Sixteen authors, including Lee Child, Diana Gabaldon and Megan Abbott, contribute hard-boiled crime stories set in and around the desert city of Phoenix, from posh Scottsdale to the hooker strip on Van Buren Street. Also contains a fictionalization of the murder of actor Bob Crane.
Libby Prison Breakout: The Daring Escape from the Notorious Civil War Prison (DB 71711) by Joseph Wheelan. This book recounts the February 1864 escape of 109 Union officers from Libby Prison, a Confederate jail in Richmond, Virginia. It describes the conditions in the facility, the atmosphere in the city, the personalities involved, and the prisoner-exchange policies of the Civil War.
A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions That Are Transforming the Faith (DB 71901) by Brian McLaren. McLaren, a Christian pastor who supports biblical community values, answers theological and practical questions raised by Christians in the 21st century. He discusses the Bible, Jesus, violence, human sexuality, other religions, and the role of the church in faith.
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration (DB 71929) by Isabel Wilkerson. In this title, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist chronicles the migration of African-Americans from the South during 1915-1970. The book recounts experiences of sharecropper's wife Ida Mae Gladney in 1937, citrus picker George Starling in 1945, and physician Pershing Foster in 1953. It asserts that institutionalized racism spurred millions to uproot themselves for greener pastures.
At Home: A Short History of Private Life (DB 72121) by Bill Bryson. The Anglo-American writer and humorist, Bill Bryson, uses his house, a 19th-century English church rectory, to frame a social history of domestication. He ponders subjects such as the stairs, wallpaper, building materials, ice, and the living conditions of servants. Each chapter explores a different room.
--Andrew Shockley, Librarian
5
Tips for Successful Book Circulation
 Books are checked out for 60 days. If you want one longer than that, please call and renew it--otherwise, return it so the people waiting for it can also enjoy it.
 Keep the mailing card with the book! They are not interchangeable with other books--the barcode on each card is specific to that book alone, and it is how we check the book back in. If you send a book back with a different card on it, both those books become effectively lost.
 Before you mail a book back, double check that you have put the cartridge in the box, and that the number on the cartridge matches the number on the box. If you do slip up and send back an empty box, call us and we will return it to you so you can return the book.
 If you are getting books that don’t interest you or that you don’t care for, call and talk to a reader adviser. We’ll do our best to adjust your profile and get you some books you enjoy.
 Finally, if you decide you no longer want the service, please send the player and books back to us. We will even send you an empty box to return them in if you need it. Our materials are federal property, and they don’t do anyone any good sitting in the back of a closet. Let someone else use them if you don’t want to. Thanks!
--Julia Alderson, Administrative Librarian
Important Digital Player Information
There is a new software update for your digital player. The update is being placed on new digital books going out as early as December 2011. If you get a book that has this update, it will announce “Updating your player’s software; please do not power off your player or remove the cartridge from the player.” There will be a series of beeps while the machine is updating. When the process is complete, the machine announces, “Software upgrade completed; stand by while your player is restarted.” This is a very quick process so please do not remove the book cartridge while it is updating the player’s software.
We also want to remind you that it is important to keep your digital player plugged in unless you are moving around with it. When the 6
digital player is plugged in, it stops using the battery and therefore prolongs the charge and the life of the battery.
--Sammie Willis, Librarian
The Easy Choice
A person received a professor who came to inquire about Zen. Serving tea, he poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept on pouring. The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. "It is overfull. No more will go in!" "Like this cup," said the host, "you are full of your own opinions and speculations, so how can I show you Zen unless you empty your cup"? (Reps & Senzaki, 1994)
Unfortunately, there have been times that my cup was too full of opinions and it is these times I call growth opportunities. One day my opinions had developed into beliefs, a set of principles, studied propositions and rationed ideas. In my personal development I had graduated from the emotional base of opinion to the trusted maturity of a belief system. The foundation of a belief is that one can trust, trust that there is a foundation upon which one can feel confident in decision-making. For example, I trust in the ability of blind people to succeed in any task, to compete and to achieve social justice; however, succeeding at income, influence and wealth requires personal responsibility.
A personal belief of mine is that choosing the easy way leads to diminished learning, diminished skill development and undermines personal responsibility. Blindness provides an abundance of opportunities to choose an easy way: examinations are modified, at buffets food can just appear, wheelchairs and human arms will lead one anywhere, but taking the easy way teaches little of value.
While walking along the shore of the island of Kauai, a friend remarked that there was an easier way for me to walk. Easier in this case meant an edge that my cane could follow and lead me brainless to the end. The question is where would we be if we always choose the easy path? When I travel through airports I always refuse assistance from airport workers; the assistance I have found to be slow and demeaning and generally awful. The benefits I get from this refusal are abundant: I use my skills of blindness, my ability to travel grows, I 7
meet people and I do what I want when I want. When one gives up his control and takes the assistance instead of challenging oneself, then you remain segregated from people, you gain no skills, and you make fewer decisions, none of which build any positive self-development.
The belief of rejecting the easy path for positive self-growth has developed my six-point philosophy of education which says that:
1. Human beings learn when the environment is rich in experience and abundant with opportunity to discover learning through analytical thinking and reasoning, using experiential learning and problem solving skills,
2. Learners who use a cognitive paradigm for examining the world, allowing for self-monitoring and managing the world by using all sensory perceptions, acquire comprehensive learning,
3. Leading people to information and skills and to mentor them through the process of acquisition is my responsibility,
4. It is my responsibility to introduce divergent and convergent information to foster growth in a person,
5. Teaching “service” as an opportunity for learning, and
6. Education is power.
The challenge of Zen is to observe what has always been looked at and see it for the first time. For me taking the easy path does not give enough observation or experience nor the joy of seeing things for the first time, but choosing the path of personal responsibility keeps the tea cup empty!
--Dr. J. Michael Jones, Visual Services Administrator
Standard or Advanced Player: Which Should I use?
Have you wondered about the difference between the standard and advanced digital players and which one would be the best choice for you?
The advanced machine makes it easier and faster to move from one section or chapter of the book to another. It also allows you to “bookmark” chapters, sections or pages to quickly return to at a later time.
If you read poetry or cookbooks you can mark favorite poems and recipes. If you listen to The Bible (DB 68777, (The King James version of the Old and New Testaments read by Alexander Scourby in the early 8
1950s, is a patron favorite) the advanced player would allow you to move through the books more easily.
Both machines have the same excellent features and are identical except for the bookmark feature built into the advanced model. If you listen to books for pleasure and don’t download books, the standard player will definitely meet your needs. But if you download, use cookbooks, read poetry or The Bible regularly you may want to consider getting the advanced model.
You can exchange your player. Just notify Daniel Simpson that you are sending in your standard model and want the advanced. He can tell you if he has an available machine. When we receive your standard, we will mail the advanced one out to you.
--Sammie Willis, Librarian
Curl Up this Winter with a Good Book
On long winter evenings I like to snuggle under an afghan, drink hot cocoa and escape with a book that is heart-warming, humorous or takes me to another place and time. Sometimes I just want a feel-good read that will cheer me up. Librarians call this type of book GENTLE. Here are some gentle titles you might enjoy.
Emma (DB 23490) by Jane Austen. Clever, pretty and rich, Emma is content to be a companion to her father. But when she makes a successful match for her governess, Emma begins to make more love matches with surprising results.
The Dog Who Came to Stay: A Memoir (DB 64728) by Hal Borland. The nature writer’s affectionate account of his dog Pat, a skinny stray who came to the Borland’s farm in Connecticut one stormy Christmas night and stayed. Recalls his exploits in hunting and fishing, brushes with skunks and poachers, and skirmishes with bobcats and porcupines.
The Hound of the Baskervilles (DB 14165) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. When Sir Charles Baskerville arrives at his family estate from America to find a curse hanging over the family he calls in Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson to solve the mystery.
Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven (DB 62789) by Fannie Flagg. After elderly Elner Shimfissle falls off her ladder and dies, she meets 9
her late sister Ida in heaven. Ida is still fuming over her bad-hair day at her funeral … then a miracle happens. Bestseller.
The Snow Goose (DB 54514) by Paul Gallico. A young girl brings a reclusive painter an injured Canadian goose. Bonds of affection grow between the bird, Philip and Fritha, linking them in Philip’s heroic decision to rescue soldiers at Dunkirk during World War II.
The Teammates: A Portrait of a Friendship (DB 56289) by David Halberstam. Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, Dom DiMaggio and Johnny Pesky were all members of the famed 1940s Boston Red Sox. Their legendary careers led the Red Sox to a pennant championship and ensured the men a place in sports history. In this extremely moving book, Halberstam reveals how these four teammates became friends, and how that friendship thrived for more than 60 years. Bestseller.
All Creatures Great and Small (DB 53926) by James Herriot. Herriot’s warm and often hilarious stories of his first years as a country veterinarian. Bestseller.
Lake Wobegon Days (DB 22969) by Garrison Keillor. Stories about the inhabitants of a small, mythical Minnesota town “that time forgot and the decades cannot improve.” These tales of the town’s characters are outrageous, warm and often both funny and sad. Bestseller.
Charles Kuralt’s America (DB 41249) by Charles Kuralt. CBS reporter Kuralt spent a month each at his favorite places during their best seasons. This is his easy going account of the places he visited and the people he met from Alaska to Key West and Louisiana to Maine. Bestseller.
Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind (DB 49141) by Anne Ross. Reserved southern widow Miss Julia receives a shock when she learns of her dead husband’s double life. Her view of life and love deepens in this witty and charming comedy of manners. Bestseller.
Girl of the Limberlost (DB 38268) by Gene Stratton-Porter. This traditional romance tells how a girl who lives in a cabin in the swamp with a cold and distant mother achieves schooling, a new understanding with her mother and the love of a young man. 10
The Hobbit (DB 48978) by J.R.R. Tolkien. Bilbo Baggins, a little Hobbit wanting nothing to do with adventure, gets caught up in a quest with a dozen dwarves intent on reclaiming their ancestral homelands in the Lonely Mountains. A beloved classic that delights readers of all ages.
--Sammie Willis, Librarian
Back 40
As we are now out of the hot weather of the summer of 2011, I am thinking about cooler weather and smells. You may think that is an odd thing to think about, but just a minute; I think you can relate to this.
Some of my most vivid memories surround smells. Summer has its own smells of blooming flowers, barbecue grills, suntan lotion and even the chlorine smell of the swimming pool. But fall and winter smells, to me, are more captivating.
Coming home from school when I was young to the smells of a pot of beans simmering on the stove, my mother ironing, even the smell of the gas space heater in the living room … these smells bring back pictures of what it was like to grow up in the ‘50s and ‘60s. I’d sometimes wake up on a Sunday morning to the smell of Mom browning a beef roast to cook while we were away at church. Or after church it might be the smell that was made when she would singe the pin-feathers off a chicken before she cut it up her own unique way, for frying. There is still nobody else who cuts up a chicken the same as my mother. And, of course, there was the smell of the chicken frying.
The smells of hot rolls, a pumpkin pie or corn bread baking in the oven might be any evening before Dad got home from work. Or turkey and dressing or a ham might be for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
The smell of a Christmas tree and the other fresh-cut trimmings for the season always bring back memories of hiding presents from my parents and two sisters until the gifts could be wrapped, however primitively, and put under the tree.
Speaking of Christmas, the plays and pageants at school and church had their own smells. The tree, kids who smelled of wood smoke because that’s how they heated their house, the straw used in the manger scenes, the sack each kid received with an apple, an orange and a cup or so of hard candies. Paint applied to the scenery 11
and strings of popcorn hung ‘round both schoolhouse and church building. Each of these had a unique smell that I can remember today and match to specific memories of specific events, people and places.
What smells do you remember from your past? Are you older, middle-aged or younger? Each generation has its own set of smells. My Grandmother Pearson talked a lot of “coal oil lamps” and the smell they made. She and my mother both told me how they did the laundry around a big pot in the yard, using a scrub-board and lye soap. The wood fire under the pot, the lye soap and even the laundry itself had their smells. As they would tell me about this, or the process of butchering and rendering a hog or of cleaning chickens, they would describe the smells and get a far-away look in their eyes which I now know meant they were transported to another time and place.
My father told me about being in Italy during World War II and the sights and smells. He too would get that look in his eyes that told me he was once again there in the gunpowder smoke, the dust and dirt, the exhaust fumes of the jeeps, tanks and other transports used in the war. And these memories weren’t pleasant like the memories he had of growing up on the farm near Tuttle, Oklahoma, because those smells included the smell of death and suffering.
I suppose there might be a scientific reason for associating smells and memories so strongly together. But as for me, I prefer to think of it as a little magic, like fairy dust that casts something of a spell to take me back to another time and place in a world that no longer exists. I like to go there whenever I can.
--Jim Kettler, Materiels Specialist
Tax Deductible Donations
Every gift to Oklahomans for Special Library Services (OSLS) benefits thousands. Contributions enable OSLS to provide activities not funded by the annual Library budget. Make checks payable to OSLS and mail to Oklahomans for Special Library Services, P.O. Box 53593, Oklahoma City, OK 73152.
Donations are accepted in memory of a loved one, family member or to honor an individual. When a gift is made, it should include the name of the person being honored and the name and address of the family or family member to be notified of the gift. Please consider naming OSLS as a beneficiary of a life insurance policy or in other 12
estate planning bequests. With the assistance of an estate-planning attorney, significant tax benefits may be possible from this gift.
Older Blind Information Telephone Line
The Older Blind Telephone Information Line features recorded information by volunteers and staff that allows consumers who are blind to call and listen 24 hours, seven days a week, to daily newspaper articles from the Tulsa World and Daily Oklahoman, daily TV guide listings for local and cable networks, weekly grocery store ads for five major chains in Oklahoma, the Wal-Mart ad, the Walgreens ad, and various announcements concerning services for people who are blind. There is no application to access this free service and there is no limit on how long you can listen. Call either (918) 743-3332 in Tulsa or 1-800-829-3255 toll free throughout Oklahoma and begin listening.
Oklahoma Library for the Blind
and Physically Handicapped
300 N.E. 18th St.
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
Bright Future is the official publication of the Oklahoma Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Visual Services Division, Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services. It was printed by Central Printing in the Department of Central Services. It is published four times a year. Paul Adams is the Library Director; Vicky Golightly is the Editor; and Jim Kettler is the Assistant Editor. In providing information to readers of Bright Future, the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services does not endorse any product or service referred to by this newsletter. This publication is authorized by the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services in accordance with state and federal regulations, with copies deposited with the Oklahoma Department of Libraries Publications Clearinghouse. Cost of printing and distribution was $2,080 for 6,500 copies. DRS does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age or disability in employment or the provision of services. For additional copies, contact the Oklahoma Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, (405) 521-3514.
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